Grant High School Community Garden

The Environmental Club at Grant High School in Northeast Portland is in the process of establishing a Community Garden and a Learning Garden in the front of the school. Their inspiration for the gardens came from a desire to give back to the local community, provide fresh food from the garden to the cafeteria, and learn about sustainable agriculture. The students received a grant from State Farm and have teamed up with Portland Community Gardens to make their dream a reality. The Environmental Club enlisted the help of GreenWorks to create a design for the garden that would be aesthetically pleasing to the surrounding community, include two ADA accessible plots, and maximize the available garden space.

The gardens are located in front of the school in the NE corner of the existing lawn on NE 36th Avenue. Portland Community Gardens will assign the community garden plots on a first come first served basis. The learning garden will be maintained by the environmental club and sustainable agriculture classes as well as the biology, special education and Japanese departments.

On February 16th the Environmental Club and Portland Community Gardens held a Town Hall event where they invited the local community to ask questions and express their concerns about the garden. The attendees voiced an enormous amount of support and enthusiasm for the project. Neighbors are eager to get a spot secured and start gardening!

GreenWorks was honored to contribute to the creation of the Grant High School Community and Learning Gardens. The Environmental Club has been working on the garden's implementation for over a year now, coming up against many set-backs and logistical road blocks. They are truly a remarkable group of students who simply wanted to give back to the surrounding community, supply their cafeteria with fresh and healthy food and provide an opportunity for future students to learn about sustainable agriculture. Follow the Grant High School Community Garden blog here.

Future Recreational Attraction on the Deschutes River in Downtown Bend, OR

Recently, the Bend Park & Recreation District has been working on a plan to alter the spillway on the Deschutes River at the Colorado Dam in downtown Bend to enable kayakers and inner-tubers to ride downstream without having to maneuver around the dam. The Colorado Avenue Dam creates an impoundment that was once used to support lumber mill operations and also maintains surface water levels upstream in the Mill District area. The dam is located in an area of the river that is heavily used during the summer months by people on inflatable rafts and inner-tubes. The current configuration blocks downstream passage and requires all river users to exit the river and put-in downstream. The dam creates a pinning hazard exposing a high number of users to the potential of being swept into the dam.

GreenWorks, as part of a team including OTAK, Pacific Habitat Resources, and RiverRestoration.org, provided a design for safe passage over the existing Colorado Dam for many types of river users including inflatable crafts, and hardshell boats like kayaks and canoes. The design includes whitewater play features, a higher pedestrian bridge and increased habitat diversity along the river. By incorporating a fish passage and on-bank habitat restoration, improvements to McKay Park, and removal of the existing pedestrian bridge, the design will achieve improved safety for river users and environmental conditions of the river.

Highway 213 Bridge Completed

Following a successful rapid bridge construction that required a multiday road closure, ODOT officials announced the reopening of Highway Oregon 213 in Oregon City at the I-205 interchange on Monday night, ahead of schedule.  The “Jughandle Project” will relieve traffic backups and improve safety at the busiest signalized intersection in the state by eliminating left turns, adding a new alignment for Washington Street, and replacing a 130 foot-long section of the 6-lane bridge. Click here to view a brief time lapse video of the rapid bridge construction – amazing stuff!

GreenWorks developed a planting and irrigation design as part of the project, including a rehabilitated gateway landscape into Oregon City, new green streets designed to accept and treat stormwater, and a 7+ acre mitigation site planted with thousands of native trees and shrubs. Click here to view the plans and drawings.

Nature Play Community Workshop For Westmoreland Park

Portlanders celebrated St. Patrick's Day with a community design event put on by Portland Parks and Recreation and GreenWorks geared around the eventual design for a nature play area to be built in Westmoreland Park. Kids of all ages really enjoyed the event! Their creativity, teamwork and ingenuity were all in full gear. It was an amazing start to an exciting project. Thank you to those who joined us!

The Concept: Portland Parks and Recreation and GreenWorks Landscape Architecture invited the community to play with natural materials, talk about natural play, make models and lay the groundwork for the design of the nature play area at Westmoreland Park. The City of Portland recognizes the benefits of letting children play in nature, including the physical, mental and social benefits. Prior to the natural play workshop, Parks and Recreation staff participated in a workshop to discuss risk and maintenance associated with natural play areas.

The Activities: Activities ranged from having adults remember their childhood play experiences, to free building and water play areas, to model making. The design team was able to talk with kids and adults about what they would like to see in the natural play area.

The Outcome: As kids of different ages and abilities worked together, creativity soared. We got some amazing feedback and ideas for the play area. Plus, we had a lot of fun!

"You Are Here" Sculpture unveiled at home of Portland Timbers

A new art piece was unveiled recently at Jeld Wen Field, the home of our Portland Timbers MLS team. Artist Ron Baron was commissioned by our local Regional Arts and Culture Council to develop the sculpture. The sculpture is a 9 foot diameter timber round with key artifacts embedded within it that celebrate the site and surrounding neighborhood. Baron described the work as an archaeological dig in which detritus and artifacts are partially buried in the tree rings, appearing to emerge from the wood. GreenWorks was honored to be asked by RACC to assist Ron Baron with the design of a foundation for the sculpture. We developed a number of concepts and settled on a two-column stone base with a stone lined planting bed. The stone was cut and installed by John Lawrence of Stone NW to within fractions of an inch to the sculpture. We were excited to be part of such a talented team and are honored to have a small portion of our work at the home of the Portland Timbers. Below are some photos of the work, and here is a link to a video of the unveiling.

Join Portland Parks and Recreation and GreenWorks this Saturday, March 17th, for a Fun-Filled day at the Westmoreland Nature Play Workshop!

A fun, interactive chance

for you and your children

to explore nature based play.

How does a nature based

play area differ from

a traditional playground?

Portland Parks & Recreation

is designing the City of Portland’s

first nature based play area in

Westmoreland Park.

Who: All ages welcome and encouraged to play! Come rain or shine, the event is indoors!

When: Saturday March 17th -10am-2pm

Where: 5040 SE Milwaukie Ave. and SE Mitchell St. Tri-Met bus #19

RSVP: Portland Parks and Rec or call Elizabeth at 503-823-5113

More information: www.licenses.ci.portland.or.us/parks/index.cfm?c=57822&

Cape Horn Trail Pedestrian Tunnel Construction Project Complete

Construction is complete on the two pedestrian tunnels that now provide safe crossing under State Route 14, approximately twenty-six miles east of Vancouver, Washington. The Cape Horn Trail is a popular 7.5 mile trail with spectacular views of the Columbia River Gorge. GreenWorks, working with Wallis Engineering (civl engineering) and Kramer Gehlen & Associates (structural engineering), provided the design for the stone facing of the tunnel facades and planting design at the tunnels. The stone used on the project is local quarried basalt stone. The tunnel facades were designed to relate to other historic Cascadian examples of stone masonry found within the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area. To quote the Washington Trails Association,‘The Cape Horn Trail is about to become one of the prized jewels of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area.’

This WSDOT project, in partnership with the USDA Forest Service was made possible by funding provided by Western Federal Lands Highway Division. The General contractor for the project was Rotschy, Inc and stone masonry work was provided by Custom Masonry, Inc.

For additional information, please visit the following websites:

Washington Trails Association

Washington Dept. of Transportation

Portland hikers Field guide

St. Louis Ponds

St. Louis Ponds is a 260 acre public open space owned by the State of Oregon and located directly on Interstate 5 just south of Woodburn, Oregon. Offering seven ponds stocked with a variety of warm water fish species, it is a popular fishing destination. GreenWorks has been commissioned through grant funding to master plan the central 20 acres of the site, with program elements including new accessible trails and fishing platforms, an education center and restroom, host sites, wet prairie & oak savannah habitat restoration zones and a new parking lot incorporating green stormwater infrastructure.

On February 4th, Mike Faha of GreenWorks met on site with the client, Oregon Wildlife Heritage Foundation and members of the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife to discuss the options and ideas that have been presented to date. Completion of the master plan is expected for later this spring/summer.

GreenWorks Collaborates on New Park Design

After assisting the City of Wilsonville receive an Oregon Parks and Recreation Department (OPRD) grant in 2011, GreenWorks commenced detailed design work on Engelman Park. Given the current economic challenges Cities and Park districts are facing in our region, this project represents a successful collaborative effort with multiple City departments including planning, engineering, natural resources, and park’s maintenance to plan and design a low maintenance nature-based park that meets the needs of the community. The framework of the neighborhood park revolves around large specimen trees that include Doug Fir, Engelmann Spruce, and a lone Red Oak. The trees and spaces in-between embody the spirit of the park as an urban forest in which sensitively placed paths, native plantings, seating areas, and nature-based playgrounds will be welcomed amenities to the Montebello neighborhood and help connect the residents to nature. Funding for the park not only includes an OPRD grant, but is also comprised of private donations and volunteer efforts which will establish an example for park planning in our new economy. The park is scheduled to open this summer.

Aspiring Landscape Architecture Students

GreenWorks hosted two aspiring student groups, sharing professional wisdom and educational guidance. For the second year in a row, Claire Maulhardt, landscape designer, has been involved with two student groups that promote the relationship between students and the Landscape Architecture profession; ACE Mentoring program for high school students (Architecture, Construction Management and Engineering) and ASLA Oregon Student Liaison.

In January GreenWorks hosted an ACE Mentoring session geared toward site analysis, site design and the urban landscape. The ACE project this year is focused on a Transit-Oriented Development. Students are designing a Visitor's Center, a Bike Shop, a Cafe, or a Yoga Studio which are part of a larger site adjacent to a light rail station. If you would like to follow the ACE students over the term, the DJC will be regularly posting photos and student narratives on their website's blog.

On Friday February 3rd, GreenWorks hosted three students from the University of Oregon Landscape Architecture Department. Claire Maulhardt and Alex Perove (GreenWorks) toured a few GreenWorks projects with Mike Weir, Leanne Wagener, and Renee Wilkinson (UO Students). Back at the office, the students were exposed to a variety of “on the board” projects and were engaged in conversations with some of the employees. This presented the students with an accurate account of what it would be like to enter into the profession of Landscape Architecture.